"This 'we' is an increasingly fashionable device, long
used to represent the civilised West against dark forces, now used to great
effect in the promotion of something called 'New Britain'. Born on the
day Tony Blair took office, New Britain is the latest attempt to breathe
life into the Victorian notion that 'we' are a single nation with a single
identity. Class distinctions that ensure whether or not you have a job
and how long you live have no place in this ' kinder, gentler land', where
'...Michael Heseltine and a former miner will embrace each other because
they are both Welsh (and ) people will have more say over their own lives
so long as that doesn't mean selecting their own political candidates or
cramping their employers style.' 'Culture' is everything: style and image
'make it happen'; populism is democracy. The self-promoting marketing agency
Demos, a source of many New Britain stories, offers 'principles for culture
changers'. 'Be distinctive', it advises. 'Seventeen out of twenty brands
fail - usually because the brand doesn't have very much 'brand recognition';
it is vital to isolate a unique selling proposition.'"
